I have just had some friends contact me from the U.K who do not thing that they will be able to pay their bills next winter and because of this they are thinking of leaving England and coming to live in Spain, AS you say what a sad state of affairs.

That was one of the reasons why we came to Spain to live. Cannot believe how these companies keep putting the prices up when their profits are sky high. I think you are right there will be more people wanting to leave the UK.

But its the same in Spain now, I came here to live in 2003 and I was amazed at how cheap it was, from food to power bills not to mention the cost of petrol, but now its a different story. I had family over for a month not so long ago and they were shocked at how quickly there money went on the day to day things, and were even saying at one point that it was cheaper to live in the U.K not correct I am sure. One thing that they did point out that does cost us a lot more here than in the U.K is our life style, and how much we spend on going out and eating out, yes I know its choice but it is apart of live in Spain to go out a lot and mix with the other xpats, with out it life is very hard. And if you look at it we do go out a lot more than we would in the U.K, we often spend 5 euros on a breakfast or 10 euros+ each on a bit to eat in the evening, this is a lot when you think its almost 1 to 1 with the £ a simple meal for 2 and a few drinks in one of the many places we have is 30 euros, thats a lot. And if you think how many places we have in a small area to eat that always seem to have customers shows that we are all doing it.

So in a way I do think its cheaper to live day to day in the U.K.

That's not counting the cost of property of course

Hi Charly,
I do agree with a lot of what you say, that everything has gone up over the last few years. In particular electricity has gone up by more than 50% in the last 4 years. I remember when I was almost boasting to my family back in England when my Electric bill used to be 15 euros a month, but now the average household is paying anything between 80 - 150 euros pm. Again petrol has risen to almost equal the amount and yes you are right food is also a lot closer in price than before. Having said all of that you have to remember that council tax in the UK is on average between 5-10 times higher than in Spain. (Massive saving)
In terms of eating out, you do tend to go out more here as that is one of the reasons why we live here, and it is also the culture and custom of living in Spain, along with the lovely weather.
Eating out can be expensive, however there are numerous eating establishments where you can have a menu del dia/noche at a set price of around 5-10 euros per person, which includes 3 courses and a drink, so you can have a decent meal for 2 for only 10-20 euros.
I think its swings and roundabouts and we all have to make our own decisions on where we feel we can afford to live and where we really want to live.
We personally still love it here and will continue to live here as we cannot see ourselves going back to the UK, but you can never say never.